The UK Takeover Panel has pushed back the deadline for a firm offer from the consortium comprising KKR and Energy Capital Partners to July 15, the Irish-listed energy distributor DCC said on Wednesday. The extension gives the bidders additional time to convert their revised proposal into a binding offer.
The extension comes after DCC publicly said it supported the investment firms' amended proposal of £5.7 billion. The deadline had been moved previously to July 8 when the company disclosed that support for the revised offer.
Under the updated terms, the proposal comprises a cash component of £65.25 per share together with DCC's proposed final dividend of 147.22 pence per share. Those elements form the financial basis communicated to shareholders as part of the revised approach by the consortium.
DCC had earlier rejected an earlier approach from the same consortium valued at £4.95 billion, saying that the prior offer undervalued the company. Despite DCC's stated support for the revised £5.7 billion proposal, reports earlier this month indicated that a number of the group's largest investors were not convinced the new offer represents full value.
Financial Times reporting earlier this month identified several major shareholders - including Fidelity International, Aviva Investors and Ninety One - as having voiced opposition to the revised bid on the grounds that the offer undervalues DCC. Those shareholder positions were cited as part of the public discussion around the takeover process.
Separately, DCC has been reshaping its portfolio to concentrate on its energy operations. The company has been growing through acquisitions in European liquid gas markets and has divested non-core units in areas such as healthcare and technology, signaling a narrower operational focus ahead of the potential change of control.
The panel's extension to July 15 provides more time for the consortium to firm up an offer and for shareholders and the company to consider the revised terms amid the ongoing campaign of disposals and acquisitions that underpin DCC's recent strategic direction.